Korean Job Discussion Forums

[muffintop]

My public high school will not pay more than 2mil won for key money. If they do, they will deduct 100,000 won from my 400,000 housing allowance. the apartment they showed me was 3-4 pyeong with no shower or kitchen..I have to do a visa run but have no place to live.

Any concrete suggestions please. There are no office tels in the city and I drove as far as Moran, and the only office tel would be 200 out of my pocket excluding mgmt fee and utilities.

Juang High School is telling every school that contacts them that I cause problems because I not want to live in a tiny place with no shower and limited cooking. They also tell them that I cause them the problem because they have NO key money. Juang High School in Gwangju-Gyeonggy wants the City subsidy but NO FT.

Assistance please.

[blade]

[Otherside]

Simply put, you are sh!t out of luck.

PS's have the choice of A, finding you a place to live (which by the sounds of it sucks...but you must be exaggarating by 3-4 pyeong...my previous apartment was THE smallest apartment i've ever seen, and it was 7 )

or B, giving you a housing allowance (in your case 400K), with no key money. As you know, you can't find jack squat with 400K and no key money.

This leaves you with a bunch options.

1. Live in a tiny prison cell.

2. Put in some of your own money and get a decent place. If you have cash, key money is a good place to put it, otherwise another 200-300K a month will go a long way. That being said, you'll still have to management fees. By the way, don't only look at office tels, try "villas" the also offer decent accomodation (though they are cheaper, and usually smaller/ with worse finishes than officetels).

3. Negotatate (i.e. Demand) that your school provides decent accomodation, ask your handler/co-teacher whether she would live in a rathole like this, and that ALL the foriegn teachers you know have much nicer (i.e. 14 pyeong officetel) accomdation. If they refuse to budge, and you are unwilling to do 1 or 2. then walk.

[n�fara]

Perhaps it might be possible to get a room or "apartment" in a minbak or pension? I'm not sure where you are so I'm not sure what they'd be like in your area, but I do know that some pensions and minbaks can actually be quite nice. They are usually fully furnished and have kitchen cutlery and pots, etc, too.

You may be able to get a reasonable monthly rent as well, especially if you say you are staying for a year.

[cruisemonkey]

[muffintop]

The principal will not budge. The school has not had a NT for 1 1/2 yrs and the last one gave up and went back to the states. I wish I was exaggerating, but the man that holds the purse strings at this school spoke in Korean to my friend and then both she and the manager translated...
3-4 pyeong.. I do not know how a bed would fit in..the bathroom had standing room only for a toilet and sink that came to the knees..it sucked big time..She says the school tried their best.

[cruisemonkey]

[blackjack]

[muffintop]

Without it..I get no place...not like back in the states where u can get in on a special...or only one month's deposit ..as a last resort.

[muffintop]

Does anyone have any idea where to live decently..not a palace..but not a dump and a shower in Gwangju-Gyeonggi?

Please respond here or in a pm..thank you all very much.

[blade]

[moosehead]

[muffintop]

3 places they took me to today were dumps...no kitchen at all..shower and a mini fridge...not fit for a long-standing contract or a "Professional"..

I will call 1330 and find out about an English realtor.

I even gave them the name of another apartment complex and all the mgr kept saying was ..how much money....
she says that her school is not subsidized by the City and that it only gets 4K from the govt......

[moosehead]

she's bs'ng you up one end and down the other.

here's the story - when an individual school is pressured by the parents to hire a FT and their district office, or whomever in charge, can't or won't cough up the money - the PARENTS get together and pool the funds to hire the FT.

THAT's why Gangnam has so many NETs and has for longer than anyone else.

and it's probably where your salary is coming from - but they are trying to cut corners, pocket the difference, whatever - and screw you in the meanwhile.

you have to walk away if you can't live in one of those places - and you should - the college students who do often go home to their parents on the weekends - or other family members - they are no place for a FT to live on a long term basis. I've stayed there between jobs for 1-2 months and that was it - it's rough, very tiny.

Right now there are very very few teachers who have serious housing problems, it's not like it was just a few years ago. Your school needs to cough up the dough for a decent place or lose you - you have to make that clear to them.

Just say, I'm sorry, there's been some kind of misunderstanding. Don't worry, I'm not angry, I just think you'll be happy with someone else. Then offer to go in person and fetch your documents - - see if that gets their attention.

Be strong - you are in the better position - and if you have to walk - hey - you're way better off - these kinds of schools are not ready for a FT yet - they will try and nickel and dime you to death, I promise!

[Robot_Teacher]

Are you sure this is a public school? Might be a private school that appears public as I read about those on this site before. To easily find out, take a look in your passport at the visa to see if it's for EPIK, GEPIK, or SMOE or if it lists a single school with it's address. If it lists a single school then it's a private school jerking you around.

Man that's downright dirty to expect you live in a place without a shower. You could do it by joining a gym to shower in, but maybe you don't want to join a gym.